How does cauterization work?
After treating and clarifying the boundaries of the lesion with Lugol’s solution, the doctor uses a ball electrode to coagulate the area of erosion from the periphery to the center until a whitish scab forms, capturing 2–3 mm of healthy tissue; with nabothian cysts they open and coagulate. The procedure is performed on days 5–9 of the cycle with clean smears. In the first days there is copious watery discharge, on the 7th–12th day the scab comes off with ichor - this is the norm; healing is completed in 4–6 weeks, after which a control colposcopy is performed. During the healing period, sexual activity, baths, swimming pools and exercise are excluded. In case of relapse or incomplete healing, radio wave treatment is considered.
Indications
- erosion (ectopia) of the cervix with contact bleeding, profuse leucorrhoea, chronic cervicitis;
- leukoplakia, mild dysplasia (CIN 1) after histological confirmation in women who have given birth;
- Nabothian cysts, cervical papillomas, cervical endometriosis;
- ectropion after childbirth; relapse after other methods.
Method and its place
Electrocoagulation (diathermocoagulation) is a proven and affordable method of treating cervical pathology: electric current destroys the altered epithelium, and after healing, healthy squamous epithelium is formed. Mandatory conditions: preliminary colposcopy, cytology and, if indicated, biopsy (it is impossible to treat “blindly”), sanitation of infections. In nulliparous women and during planned pregnancy, radio wave or laser methods are preferred, which are less likely to cause cervical scars; for CIN 2–3, excision or conization with histology is performed. Simple ectopia without complaints and inflammation often does not require treatment.
